Southern Africa Fault Location, a member of the Adret Holdings Group, has been manufacturing power cable fault location equipment since 1995. During that time, the company says it has noted a trend towards ever more challenging cable maintenance, requiring more sophisticated methods to allow test engineers to accurately pinpoint the position of cable faults.

Adret’s range of products includes equipment such as surge generators, ground microphone systems, fault pre-location scopes, a variety of high voltage proof test instruments, custom-made test vans, and various safety devices specifically designed for the cable test industry.

The Adret 16 kV surge generator, or thumper, manufactured by SA Fault Location, is a portable high-voltage fault-locating device used on underground power cables. It generates short, high-energy pulses, up to 16 000 V, that are injected into a cable.

When the pulse reaches a fault, such as damaged insulation or a short circuit, it creates an audible "thump" and an electrical discharge at the fault location. Technicians use this sound, along with other cable fault-locating equipment, to pinpoint the exact position of the fault so it can be repaired.

The SG50016 surge generator is equipped with an Impulse Current Equipment (ICE) signal output to connect to any cable fault location time domain reflectometer (TDR), for fault pre-location. Coupling the generator to Adret’s PCA101 TDR enables technicians to accurately pre-locate fault positions using the ICE method. In addition, the company’s mains condition lockout system (MCLS) ensures correct and safe earthing connection. The MCLS system also helps ensure the quality of the mains power source.

The SG50016 surge generator is a stand-alone unit that can be trolley-mounted or transported in a van. It features a robust design with a stainless steel IP21 enclosure. Adret asserts that its cable fault location equipment meets the highest standards of safety and quality, backed by ISO9001:2015 quality certification. 

Adret will be exhibiting its surge generator and other test equipment at the upcoming Electra Mining Africa expo to be held on September 7 to 11 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec.